Lyrics for Airships as interpreted by EagleSword

Airships Lyrics
I pressed my face against the glass, smiled as my breath made some pattern or other
The world beneath unfurled before me like a sail, glinted in gold from this rich dawn sky
Awaiting the ship they had told me would come, quietly anticipating that wich was to come

I couldn稚 yet see you. Still obscured by the city did I blind as I watched? Did I close my eyes? I was not alone, I think it was the first time
Watching you rise splendid and graceful, I cheered as you sailed, a greatness unknown
I laughed as I waved and imagined you saw me
In the streets of the city, the windows of buildings, a million faces gazing upwards in wonder
A million faces together and cheering and smiling
You were the warmth of their hearts, you were the sum of their dreams
In the coldnedd of morning you brought warmth to their hearts, you were the sum of their dreams
In the coldness of morning you brought warmth to their lives giving this feeling of wonder
I could not imagine you unlocking rhese thoughts no book and no picture could ever convey
This feeling and morning had opened a door. I stepped into a new world watching you fly
Saw you as a friend, the spirit of dreams
I imagined a new world, lands far away, imagined those faces as you hung in their sky

I知 leaving ground stepping into a new world. I知 leaving ground, a new world
And watching you fly I stepped into a new world
I was not alone, I think it was the first time

I知 leaving ground, stepping into a new world
I知 leaving ground, stepping into a new world
Now I知 leaving home, leaving everything
I step into this world leaving everything

I知 leaving ground, stepping into a new world
I知 leaving ground, stepping into a new world
How I知 leaving home, leaving everything that I have ever known
I step into this new world leaving everything

Leaving everything, leaving everything.

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Electric_Jungle
06-19-2002

Rated 0 
I can't believe I am the first person to comment on this song. -THIS SONG- (i think maybe it's because it's the last song on the new album and people just havn't 'discovered' it yet).
I hate to say that I have a 'favorite' VNV Nation song over all, because I connect with all of my 'vnv favs' in a different way, but no song has ever moved me the way this one has. It brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it, the message is so strong and means so much. I live out on gravel roads and such, and one evening I drove my car out to an open area, got on top of my car and blasted this song and watched the sun set while a thunderstorm approached in the distance. Sounds overly dramatic, but it was so beautiful.

I believe in this song he is talking about going to 'heaven' or 'finding god', or perhaps dreaming about it?, and I think it's 'heaven' in a spiritual sence, and not just a city. - "I couldn't yet see you, still obscured by the city. The towers of glass reflected your comming.. silhouetted on the sunrise, did I blink as I watched? Did I close my eyes?"

"I was not alone, I think it was the first time" - (because he's found himself) - so beautiful!!!!!

",you were the warmth of their hearts, you were the sum of their dreams. In the coldness of morning, you brought warmth to their lives" - ('god')

"I could not imagine you unlocking these thoughts, no book and no picture could ever convey. This feeling and morning had opened a door," - (sounds like he's finding god, or seeing heaven)

"I'm leaving ground, stepping into a new world..etc" - (going to heaven/finding himself)

On a personal level, this song means so many little things and one big thing to me all at the same time. This is my 'ode to life'. The first thing it meant to me, was discovering myself and leaving the state that I'm in. Chasing down my dreams and following my heart. Then it reminded me of my cousin, and the beautiful person that she is. Her strength and wisdom have helped make my world a more livable place. She 'came out' to her parents, and then did something very difficult and left home for the first time to live with the love of her life, leaving everyone else she knew and loved behind.
And it's also about how I'm discovering myself spiritually for the first time. I could go on and on...
This song is so amazing and the whole world needs to hear it, and all of VNV Nation.


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GothicBlade
09-22-2002

Rated 0 
I do agree with Electric Jungle... I think this song is way underrated. I think its beautiful. Not sure I get any religious references from it, but nonetheless its still beautiful.. I think it captures the whole 1920's vision of the future better than any other song on Futureperfect... and it paints a very pretty picture.

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LincolnIvory
09-25-2002

Rated 0 
I don't think I've heard this song, but a friend showed me the lyrics and, being a writer, I choose to interpret it to be about something someone has created--maybe a SOMEONE that someone has created.

-cocks head- Although that would pose some problems. Ah, well, I'll save further judgement until I hear it. ^_^


Linc



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montagnini
03-31-2003

Rated 0 
I've heard this song. I love it. But given that everyone's perception of it is their own, I offer the possibility of overanalyzation. In my view, it's about the sun. If it means more to you than that, you ROCK yo. It is regardless one of the best VNVN songs ever.

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WanderingWushi
05-08-2003

Rated 0 
This song is really overshadowed by Beloved on the Futureperfect album. Personally my favourite song on said album, but most everyone disagrees with me.

To me, the song is about hope, and wonder. Perhaps the most important things we can have if we ever want to make the world our world and build a better tomorrow.

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whennitecomesdwn
07-02-2003

Rated 0 
I, in the past year have had two of my close friends die and I'm only 16. This song reminds me of them, kind of like they are going to heaven... all the people watching and cheering are the lives that they have touched. After these friends of mine had died, it really put things into perspective... therefore, "stepping into a new world"... maybe. At least that's what the song means to me.

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Karl
04-10-2004

Rated 0 
My favourite VNV Nation song. The lyrics are beautiful and the music has that gentle vibe to it. I hope they play this when I see them live in June.

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theorby
05-09-2004

Rated 0 
i love this song but maybe mine is different but there are some errors in your lyrics maybe its typos maybe you copy and pasted off some other site badly but errors all the same
the second "verse" should go

I couldn't yet see you. Still obscured by the city
A towers of glass reflected your coming
Silhouetted on the sunrise
Did I blink as I watched? Did I close my eyes?

the song then continues as follows
in the middle (about) of what should be a third "verse"

You were the warmth of their hearts, you were the sum of their dreams
In the coldness of morning you brought warmth to their lives
giving this feeling of wonder I could not imagine
You unlocking these thoughts no book and no picture could ever convey

sorry for making my post a correction..i love the song its great..

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mitsene
10-26-2004

Rated 0 
i'll have to agree with a lot of the people here; the first time i really sat down and listened to this song, lyrics and all, i nearly cried at its beauty and message of hope.
i hear this song as a sort of story, in a political/revolutionary sense, where the narrator's friend, who happens to be some kind of leader/inventor [of machines and ideals] rises up in an airship [thus the title] to bring a new way of life to the people of the city. at first i'm reminded of russia, but at the same time i think of it as a sort of revolution that ends up actually working and really, finally, bringing a sort of peace, hope, to the people of the world, and leaving the destruction behind. this relates to me, ideally, because there are a lot of ideas that i've had/read about that turn my life around that pertain to the idea of 'saving the world' and humanity ina sense, but by doing it in the way i were to beleive, we do have to leave everything behind.

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marcos_rex
10-29-2004

Rated 0 
This song to me is about hope in death. The imagery and ambiences of the song are simply magical. This iconic airship rising up on a beautiful sunny day with a clear blue sky and sailing whilst people just stop, stare and smile sticks in my head whenever I listen to this song.
For me, the protagonist is dieing and as he is nearing death he looks out of his window and sees the airship, and forgetting his ills and sorrows actually smiles and waves. At this moment he realizes that he'll go to a beautiful place when he dies and for the first time he accepts his fate and welcomes death and moving on.

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halfalive
12-19-2004

Rated 0 
after one of our cross country meets, i was driving home listening to this song and i started bawling. i was the slowest person on the team, and i usually finished dead last, minutes behind the person in front of me. that meet, though, was the first one where i was close enough to someone to beat them. so the line "i was not alone, i think it was the first time" really hit home, as did the part about "cheering and smiling." i love this song. it totally captures the moment and it...just...is awesome.

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sherlockprefect
12-21-2004

Rated 0 
Wow. Mine's alweys been completely different and I was sure of it from the start.

I always pictured it as a semi-literal song, save the "airship" representing the early commercial/common use of (probably jet) airplanes. The narrator lives in a city that has not seen jetlines or airplanes, and as one is invented the rush out to see it, and that is why it's glory was "reflected" in "towers of glass" which I interpreted as reflections of the plan in skyscrapers. The "I was not alone" I interpreted as the narrator seeing the new possibility for so much more connection with the rest of the world with the new wave of travel possible for the public. Which of course agrees with the "new door" being opened. The description given by the narrator of his and the crowd's wonder really conveys a sense of the common people, middle to lower class, not much to hope for, not much to be excited about, but now they can see the new opportunities they have with the conventional use of jet airplanes, and the general development of technology in general.

I don't know, maybe I'm just weird. Death never crossed my mind. But the song is so open for interpretation it's ridiculous. Someone could say it's about crackers and make an arguement.

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stabvixen
12-28-2004

Rated 0 
For some reason, this song always reminds me of Final Fantasy 3. Lame? Maybe, but I still think this is definitely their greatest achievement in songwriting.

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xheartbreakerx
01-14-2005

Rated 0 
This is the BEST vnv song.. I was the first person to post on this back in '02 as Electric Jungle.. I still cherish this song to this day, almost 3 years later...

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Silent_Hitman009
03-12-2005

Rated 0 
The reason this is one of the best songs ever is because of its meaning. Ronan Harris is a very spritual man, which I respect beyond words. "Airships" is about the second coming of Christ, or the arrival of God to the Earth (the apocalypse). The reason this can be hard to believe is because of how peaceful it is. That's exactly why I love it so. When you hear a song themed around the apocalypse, it's fast, heavy and very angry -- because it's the end of the world! But Ronan Harris looked at it in a spiritual way. What is the end of the world but paradise? That's what he's saying. It's a futuristic take on the Second Coming. He describes a vivid image of God towering above even the tallest skyscrapers; in these days, man thinks he is God, but even the greatest monuments he has built are dwarfed by God's power. It makes me feel so hopeful, because in a bleak and godless future, Ronan Harris makes it clear that God is not an obsolete concept from an age long past -- He is still as powerful as ever, even a future so dark and desolate that no one can even believe in Him anymore.

"Leaving everything, and stepping into a new world..."
Stepping into eternal paradise.

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Kaist
09-16-2005

Rated 0 
In agreement with many of the people on here, Airships is one of the most beautifully composed VNV songs, and invokes incredible emotions, the sharpest in me being lonliness. Merely listening to Airships sends images through my mind, and recalls supressed memories.

In contrast to a few people, I found this song not to be about religion, but instead, when I listened I saw myself in an airplane, as the first verse vividly describes, and slowly I could see a woman reflected in the windows of the skyscrapers, her face warm and inviting. She smiles and stretches her arms to the millions of people crowding the streets, also gazing upward in wonder at her. Perhaps she is a figurehead, a political leader, a mother-figure for a nation of lost children. Perhaps she represents my longing for completion, acceptance, forgiveness. Perhaps she is merely a fleeting face of someone in the future I have yet to meet. Whoever she is, she is stunningly beautiful in an elegant way, dressing modestly and simply. The multitude reaches out to her, and so do I, and the glass dissapears. I step into the unknown, and find myself walking through the air toward the woman. For the final minutes of the song I fly towards her, gracefully, slowly, and then our hands touch, and the song ends.

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MrMarouka
12-28-2005

Rated 0 
"Airships" has beautiful imagery. If you look at this from a historic perspective (which is how I view most of VNV Nation's music), this song clearly describes a person's first impression of a zepplin (think Hindenburg). At one point, in the 1930's, before the second world war, people saw the zepplin as a revolutionary form of transportation that would possibly change the world. Children and adults alike would be amazed at the sight of these gigantic, graceful floating "airships." This song alludes to the hopes and dreams people had for the future prior to the horrifying reality of World War II.

Remember, "Futureperfect", much like "Empires" is a concept album. Most of the songs in Futureperfect make reference to the future that could have been, the "perfect" future we were all brought up to belive in, and the shattering of this illusion by the hammer of reality.

Of course, you're free to interpret these songs any way you please. I've found most of VNV Nation's lyrics to be specific references to human nature and society. To me, these songs are brilliant compositions that truly define the modern world.

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sonofzeal
06-27-2006

Rated 0 
I agree with MrMarouka, in that I think the title and imagery is both more and less literal that one might think. When intercontinental flights became possible, I would imagine that it opened up a grand new symbol of hope, to leave the old fading world behind and find a new place, a perfect place, somewhere past the horizons. To get away from it all and start fresh. I think that's why it's so powerful, because so many of us want that fresh start but have lost any idea of how to get it. But the singer knows....

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lhundley
10-08-2006

Rated 0 
The sad thing about religion is that it attempts to instill the inane, weak ideal that man is not capable of creating beauty and brilliance. Read the following and tell me that the sense of hope and inspiration in this song doesn't directly discribe the scene of October 14th, 4:40pm over Southern Manhattan.


________________________________________
"...No insurance company was willing to issue a policy for the delivery to Lakehurst, which, of course, involved a transatlantic flight. Eckener, however, was so confident of the new ship that he was ready to risk the entire business capital, and on October 12, 0730 local time, the Zeppelin took off for the States under his command. His faith was not disappointed, and the ship completed its 8050 km voyage without any difficulties in 81 hours and two minutes. American crowds enthusiastically celebrated the arrival, and President Calvin Coolidge invited Dr. Eckener and his crew to the White House, calling the new Zeppelin an "angel of peace"...
__________________________________________________

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Higurashi
10-29-2006

Rated 0 
Hmm, it's indeed possible that this song is about religion. That's not how i felt it, however. But that is probably because i feel so much love for some certain individuals, who certainly do spread warmth and love. But now that i think about the sentence in which "the sum of their dreams" is in, it sounds more reasonable that it is indeed regarding god. However, all the things that he's saying really do fit in on what i feel for my beloved. Perhaps i love her too much. But on the other hand, i couldn't possibly be alone with feeling like this. So a different theory is i believe this is about a person. Someone who has enabled him to move on. He accepts his past, but admits that he is not entirely only his past. He can create a future now, and she has been the greatest affecting factor in this making of possibilites.
In the most wonderful of worlds, he creates a new future with his beloved, defeating all that his past has caused. Beautiful as hell and the dream with capital D for me.

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Narayan
01-10-2007

Rated 0 
'Eletric Jungle' said "I was not alone, I think it was the first time" - (because he's found himself), great interpretation, i love it.
weird i not think that the first time i read this lyric, because i see "this" in every music i heard
haha

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Rinrin
02-16-2007

Rated 0 
People, VNV Nation is not a religious band. Spiritual, yes, but not religious.

They state this on their website:
"The lyrics draw on philosophy, literature, art, politics and different forms of symbolism. VNV Nation does not advocate any ideology. It is a metaphor for expression."

Having said that, I think their songs are beautiful whatever way you choose to interpret them. Especially "Airships".

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NIVIsAwesome
04-02-2007

Rated 0 
This song is one of the greatest ever written because it captures such a visual scene and puts it into sound. The obvious setting here is a busy city (metaphors, obviously, but still nice to pictures) with so many people and so much going on, however the song remains calm. It makes me think of someone who realizes how insignificant he is in the grand scheme of things, yet accepts it because he realizes that every person combined makes the scene beautiful.

And he leaves ground, having discovered a modern-day enlightenment.

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HorsesMouth
04-04-2007

Rated 0 
VNV NATION "SONG MEANINGS" INSIDE
15 page interview with Ronan Harris.

http://dancemusic.about.com/od/artistshomepages/a/VnVNationInt.htm

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Panzerbane
05-14-2007

Rated 0 
This song is of particular special meaning to me. About 3 years ago I was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. I was in the Military at the time and had been living under a specific set of rules for my life for a decade by that point. I was told that, due to my diagnosis I was no longer allowed to remain in the Service and i was terrified of a great many things. Where would I go? What would I do?

I had no idea how to be anything but a soldier anymore and I didn't know how to live as anything but. On the same token I also came to the realization that this lifestyle I led was killing me at the same time, both in mind and body.

When I hear Airships play I envision a gray and gloomy world and the narrator standing on the platform waiting for the ship to take him away from it all, stepping into a new world, full of color and life as it rises above the clouds, through the gloom to the sun and sky above in a thousand different colors of dawn.

I've actually pictured it all out in my head, seeing a neo-futuristic cityscape all in black and white, the narrator looking out a glass window of an elevator as it rises up the side of a building where the ship will dock. The people of the city despite it's technology are dressed in a 1920's and 30's style and a Zepplin flots gently between the buildings to come to a landing.

I see Ronan at the helm in a simalerly dated period Captain's uniform manning an old fashioned Helm Wheel, While Mark runs the operations around the bridge with crewmen buzzing about. The passengers, Narrator included board and as the music crescendos the docking lugs release in a cloud of steam as the ship ascends through the clouds and beyond the black and white gloom, very simaler to the effect used in the Wizard of Oz movie.

I left ground into a new world, left behind all I'd ever known, and for that I'll always know this song in my heart.

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